Caverns of Time
Located in the eastern part of Tanaris, the Caverns of Time contains various portals to different key time periods and events in Warcraft history, and is guarded by the Bronze Dragonflight. Each time period will be its own instance, and the developers will probably add more if they wish. All Caverns of Time content will be added in the Burning Crusade expansion, and will only be accessible to players who purchase it. Inside the COT: It is possible to enter the caverns of time, but it is a very confusing place. One starts by walking down a cavern which has random statues and objects from around the world stuck to the walls. It is not long afterward that one encounters that he or she is in outer space. After walking past many strange and weird objects one will find a rather huge hourglass. News See World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Hands-On, page 3 at IGN. Events *'Thrall's Escape from Durnholde Keep' - contains the entire Hillsbrad area as it appeared 10 years ago. *'The Opening of the Dark Portal' - Players will defend Medivh in the Black Morass as he opens the rift that will allow the Orcs to enter Azeroth. *'The Battle of Mount Hyjal' - The climactic battle where the Horde, Alliance, and Night Elves joined forces to end the Burning Legion's invasion, which resulted in the destruction of Archimonde and the World Tree. *'Battle on Hellfire Peninsula' - Probably a Battleground re-creating the battle that occurred just before the Dark Portal was destroyed and Draenor exploded. Overview The Caverns of Time are located in the desert of Tanaris in Southern Kalimdor. They act as a crossroads for the various timelines, and through them one can travel back and forth along the ebb and flow of time. The Caverns of Time are home to Nozdormu and the bronze dragonflight and it is their sacred charge to guard the caverns against the intrusion of mortals, whose interference would assuredly disrupt the flow of time. In-game, the Caverns of Time allows players to travel through the history of Warcraft and relive some of its most exciting moments. This provides a tremendous opportunity for Blizzard, allowing them to potentially implement a near infinite amount of new content; this content could be culled directly from their previous Warcraft games or periods of the Warcraft history that elapsed between them. Currently Blizzard has made public plans to implement four distinct events accessible through the caverns of time; Thrall's Escape From Durnholde Keep, The Opening of the Dark Portal, the Battle of Mount Hyjal and The Battle of Hellfire Peninsula. Instances Each of these four events is planned to be accessible through the Caverns of Time as part of the World of Warcraft expansion, The Burning Crusade. While the details and level of the player interactment is unknown, Blizzard has said that players will be able to travel back through time and participate in each of these events. The consequences of the player participation in these events is also unknown. Blizzard has said that they will be similar to battlegrounds, but whether players can change the outcome of these events, what consequences would result if they could, and what rewards will be made available to players who participate, is unknown. More details will be released as the expansion is further revealed, but the following four events are rumored to be included in the expansion: Thrall's Escape from Durnholde Durnholde Keep was the headquarters of the Orcish internment camps in southern Lordaeron following the Horde's defeat in the Second War. At this time, Thrall was a 19-year-old slave to human officer Aedelas Blackmoore, who intended to use Thrall as a puppet Warchief to control the orcish Horde and thus gain power over his fellow humans. However, Thrall knew that he was destined for more, and so he made his escape from Durnholde to find others of his kind, eventually discovering the Frostwolf Clan and his place as Warchief of the Horde. The Opening of the Dark Portal Medivh, the last of the magical guardians of Azeroth, was possessed at birth by the evil Titan, Sargeras. It was he who first contacted the corrupt Orc sorcerer Gul'dan, also in the service of the Burning Legion. Together they sought to bridge the dimensional gap between Azeroth and Draenor, homeworld of the Orcs, to facilitate the destruction of Azeroth. On the appointed day both Medivh and Gul'dan concentrated their considerable magic energies, forcing the collapse of the dimensional barrier. Just as a rift appeared in what is now known as the Blasted Lands, Medivh's tower of Karazhan was stormed by Alliance forces, led by Medivh's former apprentice Archmage Khadgar, and Medivh was slain. The Alliance forces were too late, however, and the rift that opened would eventually be known as the Dark Portal, the passageway that allowed the Orcs to invade and plunder Azeroth. The Battle of Mount Hyjal At the pinnacle of the second battle against the Burning Legion it was clear to the races of Azeroth that the only way to achieve victory would be to unite their forces in a final, desperate push for victory. This push took place at the peak of Mount Hyjal, at the foot of Nordrassil, the World Tree. The Night Elves, led by Malfurion Stormrage and Tyrande Whisperwind, Orcs, led by Thrall and Cairne Bloodhoof, and Humans, led by Jaina Proudmoore, united their forces against Archimonde and the demonic forces of the Burning Legion in a massive, epic battle to defend Azeroth. Victory was narrowly achieved even as Archimonde scaled the World Tree and attempted to drain it of its energy. Archimonde's demonic influence proved to be fatal for the World Tree even though the Burning Legion was turned back, and Nordrassil still lays dead and dormant at the top of Mount Hyjal, replaced by the new World Tree, Teldrassil. Battle on Hellfire Peninsula Once the Dark Portal was re-opened after the end of the first war against the orcish Horde, it was decided by the Alliance of Lordaeron that a force must cross through to the orcish homeworld of Draenor in an attempt to defeat the orcs once and for all. An expeditionary force, led by Archmage Khadgar and the paladin Turalyon was dispatched through the Portal. In the midst of the final battle of their campaign, which took place atop Draenor's Hellfire Peninsula, the party discovered that the orcish warlock Ner'zhul had opened several portals to other, alien worlds, in a desperate attempt to escape. The rash creation of so many portals had begun to tear the very planet of Draenor apart, and it was clear to the party that that world's destruction would doom Azeroth as well if the Dark Portal was allowed to remain as a bridge between the two worlds. In an act of selfless sacrifice Turalyon, Khadgar, and their companions Alleria Windrunner, Danath Trollbane, and Kurdran Wildhammer decided to close the Dark Portal from Draenor; this would sever the link between Azeroth and Draenor, ensuring Azeroth's safety, but destroying their only route home. Though they succeeded in closing the Dark Portal, Ner'zhul escaped and Draenor was ultimately sundered, creating the myriad of floating, dimensional islands now known as Outland. The fate of the expeditionary force remains unknown. World Event Opening each of these Portals will be a World Event. (Source: Febuary PC Gamer) Category:Zone:Tanaris Category:Sub-Zone Category:Instances Category:Coming Soon Category:Events